How to Keep Your Child Safe on the Web
With kids spending more and more time online, it’s important to keep them safe. Tech Talker explains how to create restrictions and install monitoring services on your child’s mobile device.
Listen
How to Keep Your Child Safe on the Web
This week I’m going to talk about how to keep your children safe online.
I touched on this subject a while back in the two-part episode I did with Mighty Mommy. Be sure to check out Kids and Technology (Part 1) and (Part 2).
Although Mighty Mommy and I covered quite a lot in that series, there is much more to this topic. And with so many sad stories of children being bullied (or worse) by online relationships, I thought it was a good idea to do a few episodes on how to keep your children safe on the web. This week I’ll review mobile devices and next week I’ll talk about home devices such as desktops and laptops.
>
Should I Give My Child a Mobile Phone?
Most parents will eventually have to grapple with the question: When (or if) should I give my child a mobile phone?
Let me start by saying that there is absolutely no one-size-fits-all solution. Every family, every child, and every situation is different. Not to mention the fact that whether or not you give your child a phone is just the beginning. There is also the question of access. Do you give your child unfettered access to the web or something limited? Do you restrict their data plan? Do you monitor their activities and block certain sites? Do you put passwords in place to keep certain areas of the phone inaccessible?
As you can see, there’s a lot to consider.
I won’t be able to answer all these questions in one episode. However, in the next two weeks of this series, I will give you the tools and knowledge to be confident in your decisions.
Let’s start with Apple and Android devices. I’ve chosen these two because together they make up the greatest market share of tablets and cell phones currently available.
Luckily for parents, both Apple and Android operating systems provide a ton of security options for users. There’s pretty much no limit on the number of configurations and restrictions that you can create on these devices, so I’ll go through the top 3 configurations that you might want to institute and discuss what each one provides in terms of monitoring and restrictions.
Configuration #1: Locked Down
Depending on the age or maturity level of your child, you may want to completely lock down the mobile device. With an Android or Apple phone, you can enable restrictions on almost any app. You can install or remove apps, configure the contact list, and adjust any setting. You can then set a restriction password that will not allow any changes to be made without the password which only you will know.
This means that your child won’t be able to install or delete any apps or change any of the settings that you’ve restricted. You can also restrict their device to only be able to make calls to people in their address book. The only way to bypass this would be to completely restore the device to the original settings, which may not even work if you’re on an Apple device tied to your Apple ID.
I really like this solution because you can tailor exactly what your child has access to and customize the phone with any apps, contacts, or settings that you deem appropriate.
For instance, you can install the Find my Friends app on an iPhone and not allow any changes to that app. This will allow you track the location of the iPhone or iPad (which is presumably on your child’s person). The only way to avoid tracking the device would be to turn it off completely. This also goes for any apps that you don’t want your children to have. You can set up the phone so that apps could only be installed with your permission.
Configuration #2: Age-Appropriate Content Only
Let’s say your child doesn’t need a completely locked down experience. In this case, you can restrict the phone to age-appropriate content only (say, anything PG-13 and below). This may be best for a young adult whom you trust to have next to unlimited access to their device.
This will allow your child to only download age-appropriate content such as music, movies, TV shows, and apps. Although not necessarily related, you also have the ability to limit the maximum volume of the headphones, which might be useful if you have a teenager who listens to super loud music and puts their hearing in danger.
Configuration #3: Keeping Tabs
The previous two configurations are built into both Apple and Android. The next configuration requires a separate monthly subscription that will allow you to monitor next to everything on your child’s phone. TeenSafe.com will log pretty much everything that your child does on their device. The big thing about this one is that it works for both Android and Apple phones.
This service uses a combination of your child’s iCloud backup and their login information to track pretty much everything your child does on their phone (including its location and even deleted messages). This type of third party monitoring is pretty rare for Apple devices since they usually have substantial restrictions for how much access app developers can have to Apple’s interface.
This type of monitoring is pretty extreme. However each parent must decide for themselves how much data they want to collect on their child’s online activities. TeenSafe costs $15 per month and has a 7-day free trial.
As a side note, using TeenSafe doesn’t require you to jailbreak your iPhone or root your Android phone. This is a pretty big deal because pretty much all other monitoring apps require you to do this to get complete access to the device. Jailbreaking or rooting (which I have covered in previous episodes) oftentimes voids the product warranty, requires a bit of technical legwork, and if not done correctly, can transform your device into an expensive paperweight.
Now just a few quick notes about these three configurations. You can easily mix and match any features that have been mentioned. I chose these three because based upon my experiences and research, they’re the most commonly and widely used.
You’ve probably also realized that I didn’t give any step-by-step instructions for specific settings. This is because settings change quite frequently based upon the device, operating system, and version. Luckily, it’s just a quick Google search to learn how to set up any of these restrictions for your specific device.
Well, that’s it for today! Be sure to check out all my earlier episodes at quickanddirtytips.com/techtalker. And if you have further questions about this podcast or want to make a suggestion for a future episode, post them on Facebook QDTtechtalker.
Until next time, I’m the Tech Talker, keeping technology simple!
Girl on tablet and parental control images courtesy of Shutterstock.
